Transcending Mysteries: Who is God, and What Does He Want From Us?

Transcending Mysteries: Who is God, and What Does He Want From Us?

Andrew Greer and Ginny Owens. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2015. 188 pp. (Paperback).

Transcending Mysteries” is part of the Refraction Collection, which is described as a “collection of books that will offer biblical responses to the biggest issues of our time (and) topics that have been tabooed or ignored in the past.” An ambitious goal, I think — but doable. I reviewed another book in the series earlier and felt the author was able to accomplish exactly what he set out to do.  

This book, touted as an attempt “to reconcile God of the Old Testament with the gracious gospel of Jesus in the New Testament,” was not a bad read at all. The co-authors, both well-known Christian musicians, have produced what reads like casual conversations throughout the book, weaving interesting and instructive stories based on their experiences into a narrative that includes exposition on biblical topics and questions for reflection. 

The problem is I’m not sure the book ever quite got to its intended destination. If I hadn’t read the front matter, I’m not sure I would have been able to ferret out exactly what the book was supposed to be about. In the end I felt it was a collection of really good vignettes, well told, but the aim of the book seemed to get a little muddled along the way.